Feasting on tradition

It takes 150 kg each of pork rinds, belly, ribs, and fat, 120 kg each of hocks and tails, 10 cases of cabbage and five cases of rapini to pull off the frittule dinner at the Donnici Social Club.

HAMILTON CITY Magazine was there for the frittule feast at Hamilton’s Donnici Social Club. It celebrates an ancient tradition from the Calabrian region of Italy. 

A single pig could sustain a family for a year and after all the meat was made into sausages and cured meats, everything that was left – the rind, belly, hocks, tails – were then boiled in pork fat. 

Donnicese families that came to Hamilton continued the frittule tradition but as the years passed, fewer and fewer took part. The Donnici Social Club has hosted this event for 33 years in an effort to keep the tradition alive. It takes about 70 volunteers five full days of preparation and cooking to serve the meal to 240 people. 

Check out our behind-the-scenes video to see what it takes to pull it off.